I've noticed that students often become friends once the teacher-student relationship gets removed (i.e., the student finishes the course). Drinking with students, getting a coffee, etc. is always fun, but you also have to be careful about what you say or do; for some strange reason, face down drunk is alright with friends, sometimes with colleagues, and never okay with your students!
But I've also noticed that, like most world travelers who have so many people come in and out of their lives, you easily lose contact with quite a few students-who-became-friends. They move onto work, family, etc., much like friends who return to their home country and "get back" to their lives.
Is this true for anyone else?
Chris Cotter
www.headsupenglish.com